An unforeseen chill borne of Arctic air has swept early into the season, conjoined with two low-pressure systems, rendering the principal cities of the Maritimes under their inaugural blanket of five plus centimetres of snow.
The embrace of winter extended a pronounced presence across all of New Brunswick, with Monday’s snowfall measuring from a mere couple to an impressive clutch of centimetres. Areas such as Fredericton were not left untouched, reporting nearly 10 cm of snow. An interesting comparison unfolds as we recall that last year, the city of Fredericton witnessed its first substantial snowfall – exceeding five cm – as late as November 16th. Fredericton’s standing record for snowfall on October 30th takes us back almost a century to 1925, when a staggering 16.5 cm was registered.
Turning our attention to the Maritimes, weather stations and good Samaritan volunteers chime in with their snow reports.
Wednesday presented Halifax with a generous five to 10 cm snow deposit, as a low-pressure system embarked on its journey past, and to the east of, Nova Scotia. To draw another retrospective comparison, the city recorded its first snowfall of equivalent volume astoundingly late into the last winter season, on January 7th. The eight cm of snow chronicled at Halifax International Airport on the first day of November constitutes a record number for that day.
Meanwhile, Charlottetown’s first snowfall of the season took everyone by surprise. A quicksilver snow squall originating from the Gulf of St. Lawrence swirled into the town in the wee hours of Thursday. The squall, though narrow in scope, was powerful enough to shake off an impressive five to 16 cm of snow over Charlottetown. These estimated figures bring to light the variance often associated with snow squalls – high snow volumes dispersed even within confined geographical limits. Alas, this unexpected bout of snowfall spiraled into a spate of automobile collisions on Thursday.
Last winter, Charlottetown had to wait until December 13th for its premier snowfall exceeding five cm. The standing record for November 2nd was set back in 1965 when the Charlottetown Airport logged 9.1 cm of snow. Despite unverified tallies, the airport reported five cm on the morning of November 2nd this year, falling short of the longstanding record by a minuscule 4.1 cm.
Raylene Broussard shares a glimpse of the ethereal aftermath of the snow squall – a quaint snapshot from Cornwall, P.E.I., sitting pretty just west of Charlottetown.
Milder temperatures forecasted for Friday and over the weekend suggest the ephemeral nature of this early snow cover. However, keep your shovels at hand, for there is chatter of further snow expected in northern New Brunswick due to a low-pressure system anticipated to roll in through the Maritimes come next Tuesday.
